by Sarah Dessen
ages: 13+
First sentence: “And finally,” Jamie said as he pushed the door open, “we’ve come to the main event. Your room.”

Like with Elizabeth Scott, I’ve been feeling a need to read some Sarah Dessen, especially since she’s so beloved. So, again, I randomly plucked a book of hers off the library shelf, one that they just recently received, and went with it.

And, as with Elizabeth Scott, I wasn’t disappointed.

For the past 10 years has been moving around with her mom from place to place, never really quite making it, never really settling in. Now that Ruby’s nearly 18, all she can think about is getting out, being free. However, shortly in to the start of her senior year, Ruby’s mom disappears. No problem, Ruby thinks: she can get by until she’s 18. But things slowly break down, and her landlords find out and turn her in to social services, and she ends up with her sister, Cora, whom she hasn’t seen since Cora left for college 10 years ago.

Suddenly, Ruby’s life is turned upside down: no longer is she scraping long with the bottom of the pack — the pot smokers, the dropouts. She’s going to a private school, living in a million-dollar house, courtesy of her entrepreneur brother-in-law. She has everything her mother couldn’t provide. Except… Ruby doesn’t trust any of it. She misses the familiarity of her old life, she doesn’t want to let anyone get close, she doesn’t trust anyone (especially her sister). All she wants to do is get out.

I was wary of the book at first: Ruby’s not a particularly sympathetic character — understandable, considering her bad mother (again with the bad mothers! Ah, I suppose it must be for the sake of conflict…). But, what was fascinating to read — as well as subtle and well-written — was the de-icing of Ruby. She meets Nate, with whom she wants NO relationship, who ends up being her friend. And whom she ends up being able to help in a very big way. (Thankfully, there’s a bad dad to balance out the bad mom.) Ruby learns the meaning of family (again, not a blantant life lesson, but one that snuck in by the end of the book) and friendship. And yes, while it has a “money can solve all your problems” Cinderella aspect to it (Ruby would still be scraping the bottom if Jamie didn’t have money), it’s not overbearing. It’s mostly a book about expectations and trust and facing the unknown. And the romance, for what it’s worth, is really quite good, too.

So, yeah, I can see what everyone is raving about with Sarah Dessen. I’ll definately be reading more of her books.